Halo: The Tide of War
by general MB
Summary: With the forerunners waging war across human space, all seems lost. Its now up to last surviving Spartan IIs and IIIs to stop them. Can they turn the tide of war by making a risky gamble, before its too late? Sequel to Halo: the ancient ones -ON HOLD-
1. prologue

**Message from the general:** I'd like to apologize in advance for the length of this message but its imperative you read it. First: this is not my storyline, I adopted it from mchmster 39 because he didn't want to finish it. He has given me full permission to use it so I don't own anything he came up with. Second: if you haven't read any of his stories you need to read:

**Halo: in the hands of the enemy**

and

**Halo: the ancient ones **

In that order so you can understand this storyline, both stories are in the favorites section on my profile and it should only take you an hour or so to read.

Ok if you're reading this part then that means you've read both stories and now you're going to find out what happens next, this picks up right at the end of chapter 21 of the ancient ones.

**

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or anything created by mchmster 39**

**prologue**

July 7, 2586

location: Testerossa system, planet Testerossa- Plateea

"You go first, I can hold them off if they come up. Without you, our squad will be leaderless," Pausing for a second, JJ then spoke again. "Without out you...we won't survive at all."

Like with Chris, there was no point in arguing because it would be both of their deaths. Standing up, Will walked over to JJ and took his hand tightly, nodding ever so slightly. Then going over to the tether he hooked himself onto it and swung his legs over the side. Sliding down the rope, he kicked off of the windows carefully so that he wouldn't break them. As Will was going down, JJ would give a progress report of the situation or would make a short comment about something insignificant. Then, his attitude shifted. "_If I hadn't messed up with that grenade, they probably never would've come after us, or at least not that soon. So if they hadn't come after us, Chris would've had time to come back up and we could've waited till help came_," laughing as one does when resigned to their fate, he continued on. "_We wouldn't have to be doing_ this _either, me stuck up here, you dangling in the air. Hmm, well, everything happens for a reason I guess. Beating of a Butterfly's wings causing a typhoon shit?I just wish I could've told-," _cutting himself off, he snapped out of his reminiscing. "_They triggered the last grenade. I'd say I've got about thirty seconds till they come through._"

Looking down below, Will could see a sky bridge only thirty feet below him.

"Get on right now and just slide all of the way down" Will ordered, "I'm over an exit right now."

"_Negative on that, they'll know someone escaped. And seeing as they know of only two Spartans, they'll never come looking for you." _

Releasing his grip, Will planted his feet onto the glass ceiling with a thud. "Alright, I made it down...good luck up there."

"_Mmm, will do. Over and out." _

Listening to the comm channel crackle out was like listening to a death sentence being read. Over head, gunshots rang out, slowly echoing down towards him. Just then the rope slammed into the sky bridge before sliding off the edge to the street. Moving over towards the concrete joint on the bridge, he pressed his body against it to try and stay as concealed as possible. Almost as fast as the shooting started, it stopped. Listening to the sounds of the battle from around the city, he was startled when his comm channel fizzed for a few seconds. Adding to his surprise was the fact that it was coming from JJ's channel.

"_Been a long time since we've spoken Will._" The voice he heard, though, pierced his body like a million frozen daggers. "_Forty years, no?_"

"What do you want?" he responded monotonously.

"_What everyone wants. Power. With each step I take, each breath I take, I move closer and closer to exterminating humanity from the face of the universe._"

"You'll still be left, going to turn your guns on yourself then? Will asked"

"_Hahaha, you wish. I think we'll speak very soon though so I'll let you get going, wherever you are._"

With the sound of a gunshot, their conversation was over. Standing frozen, he jerked back to awareness when a body slammed onto the corner of sky bridge before falling into the clouds again. Sliding down to the ground, he sat staring forward, suddenly feeling completely alone and afraid for the first time in his life.


	2. Chapter 1: war

**Message from the general: **Oh I forgot to mention, don't forget to leave a review, please!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Halo **

**chapter 1: war**

July 7, 2586

location: Testerossa system, planet Testerossa- Plateea

Kat walked carefully through the ruined streets of the city, in one arm she held her sidearm and in the other she cradled an infant their team had found upon entering the city. Will had given her orders to take the baby to the nearest field hospital, but didn't give her a rendezvous point for after she was finished. Kat assumed she would just have to find them after she was done, at that meant going deeper into the city where their objective lay. A hawk which crashed, carrying the NOVA III, she had the mission details uploaded to her by Linda during their last check in. It had been some time since she herd from them. Kat's motion tracker pulsed three red contacts ahead, she quickly ducked inside an alleyway and pulled the infant closer to her chest plate. Kat found some large pieces of concrete in the alley so she ducked behind them just as the contacts reached the alley. Kat set her pistol down and clicked a control from inside her armor, from her left arm came a small fiberoptic probe, one of the new features of the mark VII she was using. Very carefully she snaked the probe around the side of the rock and patched the feed into her HUD. Three forerunners were searching the street for any human survivors, shooting their antimatter rifles at human corpses, just to make sure they were dead. Kat was tempted to draw her pistol and shoot them but she still had to get the infant out of the combat zone. Suddenly the infant started to moan. Kat quickly stroked the side of the baby's face with her bare hand.

"Shh" she whispered to the baby. Kat snaked the probe back around the corner, and her face drained of all color. The forerunners must have advanced hearing because the lead one signaled the two others, and they advanced on Kat's position. Kat snatched up her pistol and held the infant as the sound of their footsteps drew nearer. Kat could feel her heart pounding in her chest, she prepared to make a break for the end of the alley but suddenly the forerunners opened fire. Kat squashed down to avoid any fire that hit the top of the slab but just as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

"Clear" a human voice cried. Kat slowly leaned her head over the top and saw a team of marines and a puma LRV standing over the three dead forerunners. Kat stood up fully and a few of the marines shot glances at one another upon seeing the Spartan cradling an infant. One of the marines stepped forward and removed his helmet.

"Sir" the marine said "if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing with a baby?"

"My squad found him upon entering the city" Kat said as she walked forward "I was taking him to the field hospital".

"We just came from there" the marine said "forerunners toasted it. We're EVACing survivors to a MASH on the outskirts of the city well within the green zone. You're welcome to tag along".

"Can I leave him with you?" Kat asked, gesturing to the baby.

"Not a problem" the marine replied "our medic is with the rest of the company".

Kat and the marines walked over to the puma in time to see seven viper MBTs roll up the street, surrounded by dozens of marines. Pumas ran close support for the MBTs. One puma rolled up in front of Kat and a marine got out of the passenger seat, Kat could see a first lieutenant bar on her HUD.

"Sir" Kat said.

"Spartan" the lieutenant replied. "medic" he cried and in seconds a navy med tech arrived and relieved Kat of the infant. She felt a little sorry to see him go.

"My company is pulling out of this sector, the forerunners own this part of town now" the lieutenant continued "that includes you too.

"Sir, I need to rendezvous with the rest of my squad" Kat said "we have a high priority mission from ONI".

"Understood, I'll get you some transportation". He made a couple of hand gestures to the marine in the puma who got on the radio. In seconds a mongoose LRV pulled up and the marine who drove it disembarked.

"You'll need this too" said the lieutenant as he grabbed an M22 rocket launcher from his puma and set it down on the rack of the mongoose. "The forerunners have been reported to be massing some heavy armor".

"I'll keep that in mind" said Kat as she walked over to the mongoose, but a corporal carrying a long range radio moved in front of them.

"Sir" the corporal said "I picked up another distress call, but it was a little more clearer this time".

The lieutenant nodded and Kat tuned in as the message played, then her heart turned cold as the voice she was hearing was Will's

"_This is Spartan 043, we are severely diminished in strength and are facing vastly superior numbers right now. We request immediate assistance now!"_

Kat didn't waist a second longer as she hopped aboard the mongoose and revved up the engine.

"What the hell are you doing" the lieutenant snapped "that transmission is coming from bad guy central".

"Thanks for giving me the bearing" said Kat as she gunned the LRV and drove down the way the column had came from.

"_Stay off the main roads, use back streets and ditch the mongoose if necessary. You'll be a whole lot safer"._ the lieutenant warned over the radio.

It was an eerie silence drowned only by the mongoose's engine as Kat made her way through the desolate streets. Her motion tracker flashed a contact at her six o clock high so she looked over her shoulder to see several forerunner fighters scream overhead, escorting a transport craft. Kat drove the mongoose between a pair of buildings and left the ATV there. She proceeded on foot and looked up to guess the course of the craft and headed out. Kat drew her pistol, seeing as it was her only armament and she didn't have time to go back for the M22. Kat engaged the armor's camouflage system but it wasn't the best of systems, if the forerunners used advanced sensors then she'd be spotted. Kat checked her topography map and discovered a small square ahead, a perfect landing sight Kat thought as she scaled a fire escape of an adjacent building to get a better look. Kat crawled along the roof until she reached the ledge. Satisfied that her active camo was still working, she leaned up and zoomed in with her visor. The transport had landed and was surrounded by forerunner troops and tanks, a amp in its belly opened and several more troops emerged, they were different. They wore gold bars on their shoulders and a few carried shoulder mounted weapons.

"_Must be someone important... but who"_ Kat wondered until she was hit with a startling revelation. Her fears were confirmed as a figure emerged from the craft wearing black MJOLNIR Mk V armor. The gold trimming had changed to forerunner symbols but there was no mistaking it, it was the chief's accomplice. Another figure emerged, this time wearing black MJOLNIR Mk VI with identical forerunner symbols, etched in gold. It was him! Kat continued to watch as the Master Chief quickly surveyed the troops and then looked around at the destroyed buildings, and then right at Kat. She quickly ducked down, afraid he'd seen her through the active camouflage. Kat quickly crawled across the roof, bounded down the fire escape and into the street. Running as fast as she could to get away.

--

"what is it?" Kelly asked.

"Nothing" John replied, for a second he could have sworn he'd seen a shimmer on that rooftop. But he quickly dismissed the thought as one of the forerunner commanders came before John and bowed in respect.

"Excellency, our troops inform me that two of these Spartan's have been killed by our forces just a short time ago the commander said. The one you seek continues to elude our patrols".

"Have them build up an increased perimeter and slowly close it in on this position, we'll herd him to me." John ordered.

The forerunner bowed again and quickly moved off, issuing orders to his troops.

"Something is bothering you" Kelly said as she put a hand on John's shoulder "what?"

"I'm wondering if _she_ will be here" John replied.

"She'll meet her fate like the others" Kelly reassured him "your mind will be free of that terrible burden".

John nodded and was reassured none of the other soldiers herd their private COM transmission.

"You, my love have a task to complete" John said to her. It was John's other reason for bringing Kelly with him. They had intercepted a transmission indicating an enemy transport had gone down carrying sensitive cargo, which was codenamed NOVA. John still remembered all those years ago when admiral Whitcomb told him of the devices. Such a weapon would be invaluable for study so he assigned Kelly to lead a squad to secure this device.

"Remember what I said about her" Kelly said as she ran off, joining her squad. The _she_ they had been referring to was Linda, John still considered her the most beautiful of the Spartans, and this haunted him. He wanted to be absolved of all the old feelings. And that could only be done with her death.

--

"Lets pick up the pace here" said Matt as he and Kayla supported an injured Linda between them. Karl provided cover. Neither of them could the BR55 variants as they were preoccupied with Linda, which meant they were in a bad ambush position. And with karl the only one capable of fighting it was bound to get bad, fast.

"Matt, contacts" ahead Kayla said.

"Over there" Linda said as she pointed to a manhole cover. The four Spartans made their way over and Matt set Linda down next to the cover, opened the cover and tossed a glow stick down. Kayla jumped in first and signaled all clear, followed by Karl. A rumbling sound was slowly growing louder.

"I'll manage" said Linda said when Matt tried to help her down. It took Linda a little longer due to her injuries but she made it to the bottom. Matt quickly ducked into the sewer just as he spotted a long barrel coming around the corner. He pulled the cover shut over him and joined Kayla at the bottom as she pointed her BR55 skyward, Matt and Karl did the same for their BR55 SAW. Suddenly the cover was pulled off and light shined down upon the four Spartans, completely exposed.


	3. Chapter 2: what is it good for

**Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or anything created by mchmster 39**

**chapter 2: ...what is it good for **

July 7, 2586

location: Testerossa system, planet Testerossa- Plateea

Will crouched in his concealed position on the sky bridge, afraid. He never felt fear like this before. There's no way to beat him he kept saying. Will had been trying to hide his worsening opinion ever since he got a first had look at the forerunner's destructive capability. It wasn't like the covenant at all, it was different because of who was leading them. Two friends had turned over to the enemy, willingly? He just didn't want to accept it. Will knew the forerunners must be closing on his position, was he just going to sit there and die... no. There had to be a way to stop this and he was determined to find it, plus he couldn't let Chris and JJ's sacrifices be for nothing. So he got up and smashed his way through the glass roof of the sky bridge and dropped to the deck below. He ran to the adjacent building, another office building and found the nearest directory. The stairwells were located at the corners of the buildings as opposed to in the middle where the elevators were kept. He just decided to try the elevators but like he thought, they had been deactivated when someone tripped the fire alarm to evacuate the building. That left the stairwells as he only means of escape. He made it through the winding maze of cubicles to the red door marked **emergency exit**. He opened it and discovered that there were windows along the outer face of the stairwell, many of which were shattered. After checking to make sure his active camo was functioning he descended the stairs as fast as he could. Outside, the fires raged and the buildings crumbled as the forerunners continued to lay waste to the city. Will was constantly reminded of the dream he had, the one where he faced John in this very city, the one in which he saw one of his fellow Spartans die, right in front of him. Armed with only his sidearm he was in a bad position should the enemy storm the stairs, like before. Will just had to hope that his armor's camo did the job. But it didn't do Linda any good. Will hoped that the others got her to safety, he didn't want to loose another friend. Will went to the basement to try and gain access to the sewer systems, better to travel out of sight due to his low armaments. He pried open the service hatch on the floor and entered the sewer tube. That's when he spotted it, a fiber optic cable line along the wall. The Spartans had used something similar for secure communications during the battle for Sigma Octanus IV. It had been the chief's idea, which probably didn't make it a good idea to try. Will had to try something so he removed the portable uplink from his pack and hooked it up to the cable, then liked it to his armor's COM system.

"This Spartan-043 calling any friendly UNSC forces, please respond." Only static answered him, no one obviously figured they could use the cables as means of secure COM. So Will rigged up a receiver dish to pick up any open transmissions then relay them via single beam to him. He accessed he preloaded tactical map of the city and set out through the sewers, hoping to find the marine company that the team met earlier. Or at least the rest of the Spartans. He got a sign though as his COM became active with a familiar voice.

"_This is Spartan-501, my position is being overru... ahhhh!" _

Will's heart did a back flip when he herd Kat scream. He accessed the relay dish and had it triangulate her position, then a blue NAV marker appeared on his HUD and outlined a course through the sewers. He was taking a risk by triangulating Kat's location, anyone could have traced the feed.

--

Kat kept running for as long as she could, until she reached her mongoose. But the Spartan knew it was too much of a risk to use the ATV so she carefully hid the vehicle under a piece of metal and set out on foot, this time armed with the M22. She'd been given earlier. Kat sticked to the side streets and ducked in and out of buildings, not to mention stayed off her COM. There was no way she'd be able to get to Will so long as the Master Chief blocked the route. It pained her to run the other way, Will had tried to end their relationship just when it started and that didn't stop Kat from feeling the way she did about him. But there was a good chance he'd been killed by the enemy, Will mentioned he was being overrun. Kat was forced to banish those thoughts before they reduced her to tears, and focus on the mission: get to the nova bomb. All she had to go on though was the last transmission from Linda, stating that the bomb was carried in a hawk and it crashed somewhere near the center of the city. No sooner had she thought of this, Kat stumbled across a hawk that crashed in the middle of the street. She turned on the active camo and quickly sprinted over to it. Nothing was inside. Thankfully there weren't any bodies, but there wasn't any weapons Kat could use.

"Great" she muttered as she tried to activate the electronics suite. Every piece of electronic hardware had been fried, probably by some new forerunner weapon. Which means she couldn't try to triangulate the emergency beacon from the hawk that had the nova. So after consulting her map she set out again. Kat crossed the street and used a nearby alley way which wound around several buildings before letting out on one of two main avenues that led to the city center, and hopefully her destination.

--

"Excellency, I'm detecting the isotope trace. Someone triggered it" said a forerunner to Kelly.

"How long ago?" She asked.

"A few minutes" the forerunner replied.

"Perfect" Kelly muttered as she led her squad back to the road where they placed the bait, a hawk that was downed earlier. It had been her idea, the controls were disabled and coated with a special radioactive isotope they could track. Kelly got on the COM to inform John.

"We're tracking someone who took some bait I set up" she reported.

"Its probably Will" John said over the COM "our forces have secured a perimeter and strike teams are clearing out the area inside. Keep on his tail. See if you can get him to lead you to the nova bomb's exact location."

"Understood" Kelly said as she switched off the COM and ordered her troops to move out. The tracked the isotope signature as it winded through the various buildings and arrived on the main avenue, then started heading for the center of the city.

"Signal the tanks to move in" Kelly ordered as she leveled her antimatter rifle at the heat signature appearing on her HUD.

--

Kat crept up against the walls of several buildings but it was surprising that the forerunners wouldn't make use of the avenue as a vital transportation corridor through the city. Suddenly her shields flared up as an antimatter bolt struck them. Kat ducked down and hefted the M22, hoping for a good shot, and that's when she spotted _her_. Surrounded by the same guards from the transport. She lined up the sights on her launcher but didn't get the chance to fire as what she guessed was some kind of forerunner tank started rolling up the avenue. Kat shifted targets and sent two HEAT-III missiles into the tank, one struck a energy barrier protecting the tank but thanks to the missile's plasma based warhead, it somehow disrupted the shields and allowed the second missile to penetrate and hit the tank.

"Yes!" Kat muttered as she watched the plasma ignite, but the tank kept moving and a purple glow started to form at the tip of its barrel. Kat dove froward just as it fired, hoping it had a point blank targeting system, which it did. Part of the wall she was standing behind was vaporised. Kat could see parts of the concrete glowed red. This also offered her a way out so she went through the hole and popped a grenade to slow down any pursuers. Kat made her way through what had used to be a store and emerged in the back alley and busted through another door, then exited the new building she was in and onto a side street. But this time there were two tanks waiting for her. So Kat did the only thing she could think of, run. She sprinted across, hoping to get to the next building but two forerunners emerged from the structure, rifles leveled. Kat knew it didn't matter to use the COM so she began broadcasting on all frequencies.

"This is Spartan-501, my position is being overru..." she didn't get to finish as the tanks opened fire and she screamed.

--

Matt, Linda, Karl and Kayla leveled their rifles at the manhole as it was pried open, but didn't fire as they recognized a UNSC marine helmet looking down at them.

"Mind telling me what you're doing down there?" The marine asked.

"Thought you were someone else" said Matt as he lowered his rifle and the others did the same. The exited the sewers and were surrounded by a full marine company, complete with armor and a couple of daggers to boot. A familiar face trotted up to meet them, the marine they'd met when they entered Plateea.

"What happened to the rest of you?" He asked.

"We were separated" Linda replied.

"Well we got a distress call from a Spartan about an hour ago, thought it was you" said the sergeant "I had my company enter the city looking for you. My platoon commander ran into another Spartan and she headed off in the direction of the distress call."

"Did you say she?" Linda asked.

"He said the Spartan sounded like a female" the sergeant clarified.

"It has to be Kat" said Linda "and it was probably Will who sent the distress call."

"If you're thinking about going in for them, I'd advise against it" said the sergeant who uploaded a tactical map to their HUDs. "The forerunners have established a tight perimeter around the center of town and the distress call came from within that region. Its doubtful you'll get inside."

"Maybe not" said Matt as he waved one of the daggers down.

"Whoa, wait a minute" said the sergeant "you'll never get past all that AA."

"Leave that to us" said Karl as he had the pilot get out and he took his place behind the controls. Matt, Kayla and Linda strapped in.

"you sure you want to go with us?" Kayla asked Linda, who was still injured.

"I can fight" Linda defiantly replied as the dagger lifted off.

"_Listen to me"_ the sergeant said over the COM _"my lieutenant has declared downtown a lost cause and is going to have shortswords carpet bomb the whole area." _

"You can't" Matt replied "there's a tactical nuke in the center of town. Carpet bomb it and we'll have a radiological disaster". He had technically violated orders by telling the sergeant classified materials, but had lied about the yield of the bomb.

"_I'll see if I can get the strike called off, but don't count on it. You'll need to get that nuke out of the kill zone ASAP. Oh and... good luck."_

--

Kat had manged to avoid a direct hit from the tank volley, but it landed right next to her, sending Kat tumbling through the air. She regained her posture and had spent the next fifteen minutes getting shot at by hunter killer teams, combing the streets and buildings for her. And they always seemed to find her in the end. Kat was playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse and soon she knew they'd get lucky. It came when she ducked into yet another building. Somehow the forerunners were able to triangulate her position and bring in some kind of artillery to finisher her off. They bombarded the building and it started to crumble. Kat descended the stairs to the basement and hopefully it would shield her from the collapsing building. Suddenly the ceiling collapsed as did the floor she was standing on and Kat fell, but was pulled back by someone as the hole she'd fallen into was filled with debris. Then she herd a familiar voice whisper "it's me".

--

"Report" John demanded as he approached Kelly. She had been successful in trapping Will in a building and bringing the whole thing down on him.

"We didn't get him" Kelly said "we should still be reading the isotope but it disappeared. Even if we did get him the isotope would still be present on his body."

"You" John said to one of the soldiers "bring me a map".

The soldier complied and held a small white disk in his palm. It projected a 3D hologram which John manipulated until it was facing underground. The readings indicated there was a series of underground tunnels comprised of metals that would shield the isotope from their scanners, Will could be anywhere. But John had an idea as he noticed what else was in those tunnels.


	4. Chapter 3: absolutely nothing?

**Message from the general: **The lack of reviews disturbs me, please leave one. Its the least you people can do because I'm writing this fic for you readers.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or anything created by mchmster 39**

**chapter 3: ...absolutely nothing?**

July 7, 2586

location: Testerossa system, planet Testerossa- Plateea

Kat didn't have any time for pleasantries as Will led her through the sewers until they arrived at a junction and Will slammed a large metal door over the passageway. Then turned to face Kat.

"Will what happened to the others?" Kat asked, when she had already figured it out.

Will hung his head low for a minute before meeting her gaze, and simply shook his head. Kat looked away for a minute, a single tear started to slide down her face. She didn't know JJ all that well but Chris had been her friend since training. She removed her helmet and was surprised as Will hugged her.

"I'm sorry" he whispered.

"Don't" Kat replied "we all knew the risks". She rubbed the tear away with her gauntlet, which was rough against her smooth skin.

"So what were you doing here?"

"Looking for you" Kat said as she replaced her helmet."I passed off the baby to a marine company heading for a MASH. They picked up your distress signal so I came after you."

"Have you herd anything from Linda or Matt?" Will asked.

"Not since she gave me the mission brief, why?"

"Linda was wounded when we entered deeper into the city. Me, JJ and Chris dew the forerunners away so the others could get her to safety. And that's when they..."

"Enough" Kat said in a quiet voice "we need to get outta here."

"I did some recon. The forerunners have a tight perimeter around this entire area" said Will "and they're probably scanning the tunnels."

"I think they're after us specifically" said Kat "they were hitting me with everything they had. I also spied the Chief and that other Spartan, she was after me. Everywhere I turned they were always waiting for me."

"Do you think they're tracking you somehow?" Will asked.

"We've seen they don't have any kind of sensors capable of tracking us across distances. And there's no way they could have gotten close to me to plant a bug."

Will activated his HUD's scanner and began looking over Kat for any radio frequencies she might be transmitting. Then paused as the radiation sweep came up. "Kat" he said "go to RADSCAN mode."

Kat complied and her visor changed to a blue color. She looked down at her hands and could see what looked like gold dust sprinkled all over them.

"They're radioactive isotopes" said Will "that's how they've been tracking you. You must have touched something tagged with them."

"The hawk" Kat muttered "I found a crashed hawk and I tried to activate the COM gear. The controls must have been covered in the stuff. I should have checked it first."

"There's no way you could have known" Will reassured her.

"Will, they could be zeroing in right now! I've got to get away from you." She tried to leave but Will grabbed her arm.

"The tunnels are insulated with lead, it blocks the isotopes from being detected. We're safe for now."

Kat suddenly realized something else. "If that's true then they'll know I've disappeared. Even if I was killed that wouldn't stop the isotopes from being detected on my armor. They have to know we're under here."

Will realized this already and wasn't willing to let Kat leave just to save him. "We're getting out of here together."

"To where?" Kat said "the forerunners are going to start putting troops into the tunnels under their perimeter. And if we go above ground then they'll home in on me."

Will didn't have a decontamination kit with him and he knew Kat was right on her assessment, but he wasn't going to leave her alone. "We're getting out of here together" he said again.

"Will, don't" Kat protested.

"No buts" said Will "follow me, I've got an idea."

--

"Karl, what the hell are you doing?" Kayla asked from her seat in the dagger. They could all see out of the view ports as they dropped altitude, fast.

"We're slipping under the radar a little" Karl replied. From his seat at the help of the dagger, he spotted a large hole in the road leading to the center of town. The hole went all they way to the tunnels of the city's underground transportation system. He pitched the dagger into a dive and fired the breaking engines, just as they were about to slam into the monorail tracks below. Thankfully the tunnel was high enough to accommodate the dagger, but the with was questionable. After going a few yard with the engines on low, Karl punched them to maximum and hoped he wouldn't slam into the sides of the tunnel. As he approached the city center his COM began to fizzle with activity.

"_Linda, Karl, do you read?"_ Will asked.

"Copy" Linda said "what's your status, Will?"

He paused for a moment before saying _"green. Listen I've found the nova bomb, uploading its exact location now."_

A blue NAV point appeared on Karl's HUD. "We got it" he said.

--

"Hurry, time is running out" John said as he switched off the COM. He had located the tunnel where Will stashed his single beam relay. He also used records of Will's voice to make himself sound more 'convincing' over the COM. Kelly had also located the nova bomb but its computer was locked down, the Spartans had the override and once it was entered, they would move in and kill them. He made his way topside and boarded an APC.

"_John, my team is in position"_ Kelly said over COM.

"I'll be there in five minutes" John replied "make sure you leave _her_ for me."

"_No promises"_ Kelly replied. "_John, I think you're going to like this" _she said with a hint of excitement in her voice.

--

"Clear" Will whispered as he cracked open the manhole cover, slightly. He had quickly swept the area around the downtown plaza and sighted the downed hawk, carrying the nova III. Will moved the cover away and slid up onto the street, Kat followed. Both of them were only armed with pistols, but Will hoped there were weapons stored in the hawk. All the hatches were closed so Will had to forced open the aft ramp. Inside were three ODSTs guarding a large metal cylinder. Them and the two pilots were dead. Will and Kat began the gruesome task of striping them for weapons. They were now each armed with a BR55 II and a few frag grenades. The BR55 SAW one of the ODSTs was carrying was damaged on impact as was the M22 in the overhead compartment.

"Don't try the controls" Will cautioned "we don't know if we were the first ones here."

Kat complied and went over to the nova bomb and established an uplink. "The bomb is in stage three" she reported "all it needs in the override code and we can fire it."

"We'll leave that in reserve" Will joked, he had no intention of blowing up the planet while he was still on it. But considering the situation ground side, it probably wouldn't hurt. But Will had orders to retrieve the weapon, not use it. Kat moved outside to post guard, only to be struck by an antimatter bolt.

--

Kelly recognized the Spartan she just shot at as the same one who eluded her hours ago, the isotope signature confirmed it. Which meant either this one or the other inside the dropship was Will. She bounded off the roof with the rest of the sniper team and went to ground level. There she met up with several other troops and the group proceeded to the hawk.

"Will" she called out "face it, there's nowhere to run."

--

Will stood inside the dropship with Kat as they heard Kelly's message. Will decided to take a chance so he opened the side hatch of the hawk and moved into full view of Kelly. She motioned to the soldiers with her and they moved away. Will realized what she wanted so he activated a secure COM to Kat.

"If anything happens to me" he motioned to the nova III "don't hesitate."

Kat nodded and Will stepped out of the dropship and walked over to Kelly, weapon raised. She had slung her antimatter rifle so Will decided to lower his, but kept a tight grip.

"Its been a long time" she said.

Will didn't respond.

"I see. You're still upset over what I did."

"You turned over to the covenant" Will snapped "and brought the forerunners back and used them to eradicate the covenant. Then you and John decided to sick them on us. Care to explain what you did with Doctor Halsey, I assume you killed her when she refused to turn over to the covenant."

Kelly let out a chuckle "oh nothing could be further from the truth. And you're jealous over what we've become."

"Go to hell" Will spat back "what happened? You loved the UNSC, then what? John finds you and gives you the promise of power."

"I was shown the light by the prophet" Kelly replied "its a shame he could do the same to you."

Will had just about enough, he had the opportunity to rid Earth of an enemy leader, but he didn't know if he could muster the will to kill her. He had known Kelly since they were children, saved each other's lives countless times. Will turned to leave but as he did a forerunner vehicle arrived, and John got out. Will quickly broke into a sprint for the hawk just as John issued firing orders to his troops, he could see Kat sticking her head out of the hawk's side hatch, BR55 II in her arms as she took aim at the closest forerunner soldier. Switching to full auto fire, she put him down. Will was half way to the hawk when suddenly, the ground in front of him exploded, and a dagger emerged from the hole and started firing. It took to the skies and peppered the forerunner troops on the rooftops surrounding the square. After unleashing a burst of anvil missiles, the dagger suffered a direct hit to its port engine and took a nose dive. It crashed a few meters from Will, the cockpit canopy was smashed open and he could clearly see who was inside, Karl. He undid his restraints and slid out of the smashed canopy, SAW in hand. Another armored figure smashed through the thin fuselage of the troop bay followed by two others, Linda, Matt and Kayla. They opened fire on the forerunner troops and Will joined in the fray. He couldn't see Kat because the crashed dagger obstructed his view. Suddenly plasma artillery started raining down and a bolt struck close to Will's position. He must have blacked out from the blast because when he awoke, he'd been dragged away from the burning wreckage of the dagger by Karl. Will stood up and dew his pistol after being unable to find his rifle. There were flames everywhere, and it was then that Will realized this was the exact setting from his dreams. The flames, the buildings, the only thing missing was the dead Spartan he saw in the dream.

"Will, look out!" Karl screamed as a piercing green energy bolt was lobbed toward Will's position. Will was still out of it and he suddenly found himself on the ground just as the energy bolt struck Karl instead. His skeleton became visible for a second before Karl crumpled to the ground, his BIOS flatlined. Will slowly stood up and got a glimpse of John holding a large weapon, he'd killed Karl.

"He was weak" John said as he tossed the weapon away and drew a energy sword. He tossed an identical one to Will who caught it. Will lit the blade and prepared to fight, the Spartans had only minimal training when it came to blades, which meant he was at a disadvantage. Before Will could react, John darted forward and Will used his blade to deflect his. John brought it up in a motion to try and decapitate Will but Will bent back and used his blade again to block his. But Will lost his footing and fell hard on his back. John towered over him and prepared to thrust his blade into Will's chest, but was distracted as someone cried out "John!". They both looked over to the back ramp of the hawk. Linda's was standing over the nova III, the damage to her armor was still visible and Will was surprised she was still standing.

"You kill him and I'll blow us all to hell!" she yelled.

"No you won't" John laughed "you don't have the courage."

Linda proved him wrong by arming the bomb, the front started to glow a little red, a timer appeared on Will's HUD, she set the timer for five minutes.

"My life isn't as important as yours Linda said "you die and the forerunners have no one to lead them. Not to mention you're going to loose a large amount of soldiers and ships when this thing blows. In the end, you loose."

Will wasn't sure but he thought he herd a few sniffles from Linda, and her voice was a bit shaky, was she crying as she talked?

"Enough of this" Kelly said as she shot Linda in the chest, once, then twice. She collapsed next to the bomb. Will didn't see Kat or the rest of the team and had to assume they were killed in the artillery barrage. John started moving for the bomb and Kelly came over to Will, pointed her rifle at his head and prepared to fire.

"Its a shame" she hissed "that you escaped before truth could show you..." Kelly didn't get to finish her sentence as she was struck by a green energy bolt and sent into a wall. The impact collapsed it on top of her and two more bolts destroyed the pile of rubble. Kat stood over Will, hefting the same forerunner weapon John used kill Karl. John looked back at what Kat had done, devastated. He drew a sidearm and prepared to avenge his lover. But before he could, several daggers flew overhead and began strafing the remaining forerunner soldiers. Viper MBTs and pumas rolled up from the main avenue, their LAAGs cutting down the remaining troops. John knew it was a no win situation, so he ran before Kat could shoot him. Kat wanted to pursue but she instead dropped to Will's side and helped him on his feet. A LRV pulled up in front of them and the same sergeant got out.

"My commander wasn't willing to call of the strike" he said "so I brought my men into the kill zone. It stopped him thankfully."

As soon as Will was able he and Kat rushed over to the hawk, thankfully Linda's armor absorbed the brunt of the blast. And her vitals were strong. Kat helped her up and into one of the crash seats.

"Did you get him?" She asked.

"No" Will replied "he got away... again."

Linda didn't respond, Kat tended to her wounds while Will tried to raise Kayla and Matt only to have them both contact him first.

"_Will, get over here. Now!"_ Matt said over the COM. Will left the dropship and homed in on the pair's IFF tags. They were moving large slabs of melted concrete nearby. Kayla pulled off the last one and sprawled underneath was Kelly. Kayla knelt down and linked up with her Mk V.

"She's still alive" Kayla reported.

"What do you want to do?" Matt asked.

Will stared a moment at Kelly, and looked around at the sight of what was left of the city, then at Karl's body being loaded on a gurney. He was tempted to just kill her.

"Get on FLEETCOM and have the _Tigre _send down a hawk." Will ordered "We're taking her with us."


	5. Chapter 4: to the victor, go the spoils

**Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or anything created by mchmster 39**

**chapter 4: to the victor, go the spoils**

July 8, 2587

location: UNSC _Tigre_- en route to undisclosed location

They had jumped to slipspace six hours ago, six hours. That's how long Linda's been cooped up in the infirmary. Six hours, that's how long Karl's body has been sitting on a slab in the morgue. Six hours, that's how long _she's_ been on board. All of this was racing through Will's mind as he sat in the observation theatre of one of the multi purpose rooms on the carrier. Below, Kelly was lying on a table. Her armor had been removed and she was wearing a gray prisoner's jumpsuit. Inserted in her arm was an IV shunt, pumping her full of sedative. A couple of the monitors in the observation room displayed close ups of her face. Kelly looked just as she did when Will saw her last, thirty years ago. Will figured she must have used some kind of stasis like he did, it was just a bit unnerving seeing her so unchanged. Will was sick of watching so he left, but was pondering where to go. He would have returned to his room but Kat was probably there, looking for him. Instead he headed to something called the sim room, he read about it on the ship's database, it was a reversed engineered covenant holographic tech that allowed you to simulate any vista you choose. The earlier versions of this that Will remembered were a bit twitchy and you could clearly see that it was a projection. As he walked into the room, he was shocked. Someone was already running the system, the projection of choice: a beach at night. Will waved his hand through some of the sand and wasn't surprised that it passed through.

"Guess they haven't fixed all the bugs" he said to himself.

"They're working on it" said a female voice.

Will looked up to see Kat sitting on the artificial floor, the artificial ocean lapping against her bare feet. "This feels kinda weird. Wish it was real though."

Will sat down next to her, he remembered what Kat had said back on the covenant homeworld, about how she liked the sound of the ocean. The sim room replicated it perfectly.

"I still can't believe they're gone" Kat whispered.

"I know how you feel" Will said "its never easy to get over".

Kat looked into Will's eyes for a moment and thoughts started to race through her head. "_Is he making the first move?"_ She wondered. Kat decided to take a chance and so she prepared to kiss Will again, but stopped as both she and Will felt a slight tugging sensation. A normal human wouldn't feel it with the new dampening systems, but Spartans could. The ship had just dropped out of slipspace.

* * *

July 8, 2587

location: former covenant homeworld

John paced back and forth through his private chambers, still grief stricken over loosing Kelly. He was distracted from his thought when the young Forerunner commander entered the room. John turned to face him as he bowed in respect.

"Excellency, our troops report they tested the new weapon you requested, on the planet the humans call Sigma Octanus IV".

"Casualty figures?"

"Unfortunately, the weapon had no effect on the intended target or any of the population. The delivery system works flawlessly, though. The weapon itself still needs to be refined. To that end, the other human wished to speak with you."

John simply nodded in acknowledgment and slipped out. Throughout what had once been the inner sanctum was now the main HQ for the entire Forerunner military. Orangeade waiting halls had been transferred into operation centers loaded with Forerunner computer terminals and holographic displays. Outside was a bustling military base, a shipyard floated overhead in orbit, attempting to crank out as many replacement ships as possible. The UNSC weapons were much more effective than John had previously thought, of course they had 30 years to upgrade their weapons with covenant technology. He entered the central grav lift and took it to the massive complex built underneath after the Forerunners moved in. As John left the lift he passed through corridors that were purely of Forerunner architecture. He approached a triangular door that parted upon detecting his presence, John entered an advanced laboratory and found who he was looking for at the other side of the room, hard at work manipulating a holographic genome, was Cathrine Halsey. She looked a lot different from when John first stumbled across their ship 30 years ago. After she'd been turned by truth he used her knowledge of UNSC technology to start developing more efficient weapons. She never completed her work before John pulled his coup and was more than willing to sign on to John's side. She used some of the newfound Forerunner tech to replicate the anti-aging ability of the device John wore on his arm. Halsey was even able to tweak it to actually make herself grow younger, Halsey now looked like she was in her late twenties and her hair was once again its original raven black.

"Hello, John" she said when she finally noticed him there "I'm sorry about her".

"That's not why I'm here" John replied "your weapon didn't work".

"Because all I had to go on was blood samples from the two of you" said Halsey as she left the holographic genome and went over to a table. Covering it was a opaque energy cocoon. Halsey hit a control and the cocoon disappeared. Lying on the table was the body of a Spartan, the one that John met 30 years ago when Will led his team to this planet, they called him Chris.

"The majority of the Spartans are from a new class that obviously trained without my prior knowledge" Halsey explained. "They used more refined and several new augmentation techniques that makes the first strain unsuitable as it was designed for Spartan IIs. But from what I can learn from our friend here, I should be able to produce a more viable weapon."

"Keep up the good work, Doctor" said John as he left Halsey to her work.

"_You two will never succeed"_ said a voice from inside Halsey's head.

"Be quiet!" she hissed as she raised a laser extractor and cut into the bone marrow of Chris' body. But deep in the back of her mind was the consciousness of the real Cathrine Halsey. When the prophet of truth used his mind control on both her and Kelly he must have been weakened by the strain of turning Kelly, because he wasn't able to completely suppress her mind and wasn't pushed into an endless void like John and Kelly. True, she had no way of regaining her motor functions but she had been able to taunt the other, twisted version of herself for the past thirty years. The only reason she hadn't gone completely insane was the belief that everyone could be saved eventually, herself and John included, assuming he was still in there. But Halsey had her doubts that even she could be saved, "at least Kelly has been freed from this nightmare" she said to herself.

* * *

July 9, 2587

location: open space- UNSC _Tigre_

Linda looked out the window of the recovery room and saw a UNSC destroyer hang in space. A shuttle left the destroyer and flew over to the Tigre. Linda quickly dressed and sneaked past the nurse on duty. She got Will's location from the computer and quickly left to find him, see if he knew what was going on. Only the computer announced for her and her fellow Spartans to report to briefing room K. she then had to back to the terminal, get the location of briefing room K, then make her way there. When she stepped in she found Will, Matt, Kat and Kayla waiting around the table.

"Shouldn't you still be in the infirmary?" Kayla asked.

"I'm fine" Linda replied "besides, the captain asked for all of us. Any idea why?"

"I'm assuming that's what the briefing is for" said Will.

The captain walked in with another man, he looked about in his mid thirties, brown unkempt hair and amber eyes. He also bore the bronze oak leafs of a lieutenant commander.

"Sirs" Will said as he and the other Spartans saluted.

"At ease" said the captain "I'd like to introduce you to lieutenant commander Jason Forrest of ONI. He just arrived on the destroyer we met up with."

"Sir, why is he here?" Will asked.

"He's here to conduct Spartan-087's interrogation" said the captain.

--

The meeting with this mysterious commander Forrest ended shortly after introductions and the Spartans were allowed to return to their rooms. With the recent losses at Testerossa there were a few extra rooms available so Linda had a private one to herself. The door chime sounded and Linda went over and unlocked the door. Standing on the other side was commander Forrest.

"May I come in?" He asked, his voice was very kindly, he didn't sound like he was in the military at all.

"Of course, sir" Linda said as he entered.

"First off, you don't have to call me sir, my commission and rank are all honorary" said Forrest.

"Then why would you be working for ONI?" Linda inquired.

"That's a long story" said Forrest "would you please sit."

"Yes" Linda said as she took a seat.

"I wanted to come talk to you in particular" said Forrest "I understand you must have been friends with Kelly."

"Well, yes" said Linda "I'm surprised you used her name instead of her number."

"Like I said, I'm not really Navy" said Forrest.

"So then who are you supposed to be?" Linda asked.

"Like I said its a long..."

"Long story" Linda finished for him, she was starting to like this guy, he didn't seem like some of the other ONI spooks.

"You're just as beautiful as I remembered" Forrest said.

"Pardon?"

"Sorry, I guess I can't control what's in my head and what comes out of my mouth" said Forrest. Linda could swear he was starting to blush a little.

"_Defiantly not Navy or ONI, just who is this guy?"_ Linda thought. "Commander, you act like we've met before."

"First of all I'm not a commander, remember. Second, we have met before, but I doubted you would have recognized me."

"I don't get it?" Linda said.

"I want to show you something, do I have your permission?" Forrest asked.

For some reason Linda felt compelled to trust him so she said "yes". Suddenly, she was slammed with a slight headache and her vision began to blur.


	6. Chapter 5: mind games, part 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or anything created by mchmster 39**

**chapter 5: mind games, part 1**

July 8, 2587

location: UNSC _Tigre_- Spartan's quarters

Linda lost all feeling in her extremities and her vision finally cut out. But it suddenly returned and Linda found herself surrounded by other people, taller than she was. Linda soon realized that they weren't taller but she had grown shorter. She had somehow entered the body of a child, there were other children but most of the people around her were adults. Linda tried to move but she had no controls over her motor functions, so she would just have to watch and wait. After a minute she was able to deduce that the body she was in was also male and they were all in a shipping container. A few of the women and children were crying and some of the adult men where whispering abut the covenant. Suddenly the door to the shipping crate opened and several tall armored figures entered. Linda recognized the armor as MJOLNIR mark IV. The lead figure was also Joshua.

"We're here to help, is this everyone?" Joshua asked.

"Yeah" one of the men said "thank god you're here. We lost half our group just trying to get out of the residential section."

One by one most of the civilians were escorted out but the boy who Linda was seeing through hid behind one of the boxes in the back, shaking with fear. The crate was now empty and she could hear voices from outside, suddenly another Spartan reentered the crate, but this one held a SRS99C. Linda made a startling revelation, she was looking at herself. Linda watched herself as she made her way over to the back of the crate and spotted the boy. He backed up and Linda knelt down in front of him

"Stay away" the boy cried in a Young, squeaky voice.

"Hey relax" Linda said in a kind tone. She set her rifle down and removed her helmet, Linda looked into her own face as she reached out a hand and the little boy took it.

"You're safe with me" Linda said as the scene dissolved and Linda found herself back in her own body. Commander Forrest was slumped over in his chair across from Linda, rubbing his temples.

"I'm sorry if that was a bit disorienting" Forrest said.

"W-what are you?" Linda asked, she was ready to assault the commander, not sure what exactly he was. "I remember what you showed me, the little boy from Sigma Octanus IV". Suddenly she made the connection from Forrest's hair and eye color to that of the little boy's from all those years ago. "You're him!"

"That's correct. I had just turned four when the covenant attacked Cote d'Azur. My family died in the initial attack and some friends found me and got me to the docks. That's when you and your team found me and the other survivors and got us out safely."

"But how did you do that thing?" Linda asked "show me the memory".

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell you earlier" said Forrest "I guess you could call me a Spartan, but of a different sort. I was part of the special weapon program that went on while you and the other Spartans were in stasis. This project didn't focus on strength but on the mind."

"You're some kind of telepath, aren't you?"

"Yes I am" said Forrest "I'm also the only one in existence".

"I don't get it" said Linda "were you born with this, were there others like you?"

"I think if I explain the whole story then that should answer your questions".

Linda nodded then settled into her chair and let Forrest explained.

"Shortly after the covenant war a UNSC ship stumbled across a small covenant ship, carrying two of their prophets. One was dead and the other was injured, the UNSC studied both of them and discovered the prophet's species had some sort of telepathy. In time they discovered how to replicate this trait and apply it to humans, but ordinary ones couldn't handle the augmentation, and died. The UNSC discovered a certain genome type in humans that would allow for the augmentation to be successful".

"And you have it?"

"Correct" said Forrest "but this genome was more rare than than of you Spartans, the UNSC only found twenty humans that had it in the entire post war population. All of them were kids between seven and ten, I was eight when they took me and trained me in the ways of the mind. Five years after being inducted they gave us the brain augmentation. I was the only one to survive the procedure."

"It must have been hard" Linda remarked "I know what that's like".

"It was a lot harder. I had to spent the next seven years regaining control of my motor functions. And honing my new abilities. Six years ago I graduated from the program and ONI gave me my commission. Since then I've been involved in high target intelligence and interrogation, what I do has saved a lot of lives."

Linda was bewildered at Forrest's tale. If he didn't pull that stunt earlier, she would have found it hard to believe him.

"I'd also like to apologize again for earlier for the discomfort I must have caused" said Forrest "you see what I did had a duel purpose."

"Duel purpose?"

"I needed to get inside the mind of a Spartan, see what it looked like" Forrest explained "used the memory to keep your mind focused and occupied while I examined your mind's inner workings."

"You can do all that?!" Linda said.

"That and more" said Forrest "I should probably tell you that I accessed some of your memories and the feelings associated with them".

"What exactly?" Linda asked, a little annoyed at Forrest's intrusion.

"Nothing too personal, but one stood out in particular, the Master Chief".

"There's nothing to say about him!" Linda snapped "he's dead in my eyes".

"You know that's not true, you say it to yourself each night. You can't deny how you still feel about him".

"That was a long time ago!" Linda yelled, becoming more defensive.

"What was?" Forrest asked.

"Didn't you see?" Linda asked "in my memories".

"I didn't pry that deep" said Forrest "I did what I call a surface scan, take a little information then sort it out. I only know what you feel for him, even now. Its ok if you want to talk about it".

"So what, you're a psychologist too?" Linda said.

"Actually I am" said Forrest "I earned my doctorate in psychology though. So if you want to talk then I can probably help."

"This isn't a easy topic for me" said Linda "plus you'll just read my mind anyway, why do I even have to say it?"

"I never go into someone else mind without permission, except when I'm interrogating a prisoner. If I have to then I get their permission first, like I did with you" said Forrest.

Linda's gut told her he was trustworthy, so she decided to take a chance. "Everything I tell you stays confidential, right?"

"I would never tell a soul" said Forrest "you don't have to tell me everything if it bothers you too much".

"I want to" said Linda "I kept this secret for too long". She leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath, then exhaled and leaned forward. "A few months before John turned, we... shared something".

"You mean you slept with him" said Forrest.

Linda sent a scowl his way for being so blunt, but her face changed to a saddened one and she calmly muttered "yes".

"Did you always feel that way about him?" Forrest asked.

"For a while I cared about him" Linda said "I didn't know if he felt the same way until that night. We both realized it was mistake and we called it off the day after".

"But that didn't stop you from feeling the same way" said Forrest "something else happened, that much I got from my scan".

"Something did" Linda acknowledged "about two months later. I woke up sick one morning, Spartans don't normally get sick so I went to the base doctor, she examined me... and that's when I found out".

"Oh my, you were pregnant" Forrest said.

Linda nodded, then spoke, her voice marred in sadness. "I was so scared I didn't tell anyone, not even John. I just kept it secret, didn't talk to anyone. So no one noticed".

"Linda, I read the files on you and the other Spartans. There's no mention of you having a kid, nor ever being pregnant".

Linda took another deep breath. "That's because three weeks later I had a miscarriage".

"I am so sorry" said Forrest.

"Don't" Linda replied "I should have known better than to try and start a relationship. I knew something like this could happen, that I'd loose him". A tear started to roll down her face "when I saw he'd turned I was devastated. I told myself 'its not him anymore, just pull the trigger'. When I couldn't do it the first time I swore to myself that I would do it when I saw him again".

"But that's not what you promised Fred" said Forrest.

Linda was a bit disturbed about Forrest knowing so much, but knew he wouldn't tell anyone so she continued. "I want him back" she confessed "but I know he's beyond help, look what he did to Kelly".

Forrest gently took Linda's hand in his own, a futile gesture to offer her some comfort. "It doesn't both you that you lost your unborn child?"

"No" Linda calmly said "and I know it should, but we were trained to suppress emotions. I never grieved, never cried. I wanted to tell John, but he left for Terra II two days after it happened. We were assigned to a ONI sting the day after, so I blocked it all and tried to go on. Look, commander... thanks for listening, it kinda helped to talk about this."

"You're welcome" Forrest replied "and its Jason if you prefer".

Linda replied with a weak smile, then she noticed Forrest blush a little as he removed his hand from Linda's. Her mind wandered to Forrest's comment about her being as beautiful as he remembered from when she rescued her. What did it mean?

--

A few hours later the Spartans were gathered in the observation room of Kelly's 'cell'. Forrest was in the cell and had just deactivated the IV drip. An extra layer of restraints were added and full fireteam was waiting outside if anything happened. Also in the observation room was the ship's captain. Will had been told by Linda that Forrest visited her, but didn't say what they talked about. Everything about this ONI officer was off, and Linda probably knew why.

"We're ready" Forrest called out "I'm administering the stimulant". Forrest shoved a injection gun into the side of Kelly's neck and it took only a few seconds for her to stir. Will saw her once auburn eyes were glazed over, her voice was slightly deeper without her armor speakers.

"You have no idea what you've done by capturing me" she hissed.

"Petty officer, you won't address me in such a manner" Forrest said in a strict military tone, which surprised Linda.

Kelly tried to struggle against the restraints, but knew it was futile to try. She simply shot a smug look at him.

"Lets start with something simple, shall we" said Forrest "what is the current deployment of the Forerunner fleet?"

Kelly kept the same smug look on her face and didn't reply.

"Very well, I was hoping it would end up like this" said Forrest. He suddenly glared back at Kelly, appeared to be concentrating on something. Kelly started to wince in pain and began thrashing around, before calming. Forrest on the other hand was looking rather frail. He touched a pair of fingers to his temple and started to massage the spot, then he collapsed. Linda bolted out of the observation room and into the cell faster then everyone could react.

"Commander, are you ok?" she asked and she knelled down at his side.

"I'm f-fine, it was a bit... disorienting" Forrest replied.

"Just who the hell are you?" Will demanded as he and the rest of the Spartans entered.

"Its a long story" Linda replied for him.

"Just what did you do to Kelly?" Kat asked.

"That's not Kelly" Forrest explained "but she's still in there".

--

Forrest had the Spartans gather in one of the briefing rooms and Linda explained about his telepathic abilities, then about her encounter, barring what they discussed later on. Then Forrest moved to what he learned from scanning Kelly.

"There were two distinct consciousnesses in her mind" he said as he activated a monitor, and an EKG reading appeared. "This is Kelly's, and this one was detected when I had he med personnel scan for it". Another reading appeared, but it was very weak. "The second pattern belongs to the real Kelly, the one you knew, Linda".

"I don't understand, how do you know it was the real Kelly?" Matt asked.

"For the briefest moment I was able to touch her real mind. The other kept it contained".

"Then who is controlling Kelly?" Will asked "who did I talk to back on Testerossa?"

"From my initial probe, it appears to be a twisted copy, it has access to all of Kelly's memories, feelings, the works. In a way, its essentially her evil twin".

"Commander, is there the possibility... of getting her back?" Will asked.

Forrest cracked a smile "there may be, but I'll need your help. And its not without its risks".

--

"Will, you can't seriously be considering doing this?" Kat asked in a desperate voice. She'd come to see Will in his quarters when everyone was out and was trying to convince him not to do what Forrest was suggesting.

"I owe Kelly" Will replied "she's saved my skin more times than I can count".

"But that's not Kelly!" Kat yelled "what are the odds that she's actually still in there?"

"Its reason enough to try" said Will as he got up and made for the door, but Kat blocked his path. Then did something unexpected. She pressed against him and kissed Will deeply.

"This is why I don't want you to go" Kat said as she still kept her face close to Will's "I'm afraid I'll loose you.

"You won't" Will reassured her "I'm going to get through this".

Kat kissed Will once more before allowing him to pass and they both went down to Kelly's room. Another bed and more monitoring equipment were placed next to the one Kelly occupied, once again sedated. Will lied down on the other bed and was hooked up to a EKG monitor, an IV shut was inserted and he was given a mild sedative.

"You'll have to leave" one of the med techs said to Kat.

"No its ok" said Forrest "she can stay".

Kat nodded to Forrest and she just leaned against the wall. Will offered her a smile before getting dizzy.

"So what exactly are you going to be doing, again?" Matt asked from the observation room.

"I'm going to link Will's, Kelly's and my mind together" Forrest explained "essentially I'm using Will as an extra power source form my telepathic abilities. Its like the AI interface with your previous armor, I'll be using Will's mind as a backup processor as I try and bring Kelly's mind back to the surface".

"What exactly happens to Will?" Kat asked "during this whole process?"

"I don't know" Forrest replied "but if anything happens I'll break the connection. Shall we do this?"

Will nodded and Forrest stood between the two beds, pressed one hand to Will's forehead and the other to Kelly's. He closed his eyes as did Will and the others watched the separate EKG readings as they continued on their own path, then slowly joined together in the same rhythm.

--

Will found himself floating in nothingness before waking up, face down on a floor. He got up and got a look at his surroundings, he was in a standard UNSC instillation corridor, but there were doors on both walls, many doors.

"Its strange" Forrest said from behind Will. Will spun around and sure enough he was there too.

"What exactly is this?" Will asked.

"Kelly's mind. Or at least our interpretation of it. Something our minds conjured up to represent it" Forrest explained. "To tell you the truth I didn't expect you to even be here".

"Haven't you done this before?"

"This is actually my first attempt" said Forrest.

"So how do we find Kelly?" Will asked "do we try one of these doors?"

"Its worth a try" said Forrest as he and Will moved to the closest one. Will grasped the handle, and turned it.


End file.
